Intraoperative corneal pachymetry in eyes having radial keratotomy.

We prospectively studied 45 eyes that had radial keratotomy for correction of myopia to determine whether significant changes in corneal thickness occurred during the surgical procedure and which paracentral corneal region was the thinnest consistently. We used a standard bidirectional technique with a diamond knife. The inferotemporal paracentral region was the thinnest most frequently (38% of eyes) both pre-incision and post-incision. However, each of the other paracentral regions measured the thinnest in a smaller percentage of eyes: temporal (28% pre-incision and post-incision); inferior (19% pre-incision, 21% post-incision); nasal (11% pre-incision, 9% post-incision); superior (4% pre-incision and post-incision). A statistically significant reduction in corneal thickness occurred intraoperatively in all regions.